Paleomagnetic study of Cretaceous rocks of Peru, South America: Evidence for rotation of the Andes

Paleomagnetic data for the Cretaceous volcanic and sedimentary rocks in the Andean region of Peru are given. Reliable paleomagnetic field directions were obtained for three Cretaceous (Albian to Cenomanian) formations from calcareous sediments in northern Peru. Stable remanent magnetization directions were also derived from twelve Cretaceous lava flows and dikes in coastal Peru. Paleomagnetic data of the same age from the stable areas of South America such as Brazil demonstrate that the paleomagnetic poles are nearly coincident with the present pole, but Peruvian paleomagnetic directions studied here showed several tens of degrees of counterclockwise declination shifts. This suggests counterclockwise tectonic rotation of an extensive block which includes the whole of Andean Peru.     

Changing grading of soil: effect on critical states

Examples of situations are presented where the grading of a soil changes during its lifetime either by crushing of particles leading to an increase of fine material or by slow transport of fine particles with seepage leading to a decrease of fine material. Such grading changes influence the basic constitutive properties of the soil, in particular properties such as critical states which are dependent on the available range of densities of packing. Discrete element modelling is used to show the dependence of critical state conditions on grading and the way in which the particle assembly seeks out new critical state conditions as the grading changes.     

Possibility of recent changes in vertical distribution and size composition of chlorophyll-a in the western North Pacific region

Our analysis of the last three decades of retrospective data of vertical distributions and size composition of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) over the western North Pacific has revealed significant changes of three indices related to Chl-a during summer season, as follows: (1) decreasing linear trend of the proportion of Chl-a in surface layer to that of the whole water column by 0.4 and 2.3% year⁻¹ in the subtropical area along 137°E (STA₁₃₇) during 1972 to 1997 and in the Kuroshio Extension area along 175°E (KEA₁₇₅) during 1990 to 2001; (2) increasing linear trend of the depth of subsurface Chl-a maximum (DCM) by 0.4 and 2.6 m year⁻¹ in STA₁₃₇ and KEA₁₇₅; and (3) decreasing linear trend of larger-size Chl-a (>3 μm) by 0.1 and 2.5% year⁻¹ in STA₁₃₇ and KEA₁₇₅, respectively. Water density (σ _θ ) at 75 m depth had also decreased by 0.006 and 0.05 year⁻¹ in STA₁₃₇ and KEA₁₇₅, respectively. The ratio of biogenic opal to biogenic CaCO₃ in the sinking flux decreased by 0.015 year⁻¹ in the subtropical region from 1997 to 2005. These findings may indicate that the subsurface chlorophyll maximum is deepening and larger phytoplankton such as diatoms has been decreasing during the past decade, associated with the decreasing density of surface water caused by warming in the western North Pacific, especially in the summer.     

Late Triassic ammonoid Sirenites from the Sabudani Formation in Tokushima,Southwest Japan,and its biostratigraphic and paleobiogeographic implications

Discovery of Sirenites senticosus (Dittmar) in the upper part of the Sabudani Formation of the Kurosegawa Belt, Kito area, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, establishes a late Early Carnian age for this part of the stratigraphic unit. Because S. senticosus was mainly distributed in the Tethyan region, its occurrence provides evidence that Late Triassic ammonoids of Japan had strong affinities with those of the Tethyan faunas. This finding clearly differs from the biogeographic distribution of contemporary bivalves in the region, which are referred to as the Kochigatani bivalve faunas, and show strong affinities to faunas of the Boreal region.     

软岩的强度—变形—时间之间关系的试验分析

对软岩和有不连续面的软岩试样进行一系列固结不排水三轴压缩和蠕变试验,测定并分析了它们在正常固结和超固结状态下的应变软化性状、蠕变特性和残余强度的变化规律。探讨了软岩中存在的不连续面对应力－应变关系、残余强度特性和蠕变应变速率的影响。     

Fast Oxidation Reaction of Nitrite by Dissolved Oxygen in the Freezing Process in the Tropospheric Aqueous Phase

Nitrite oxidation in the tropospheric aqueous phase by freezing was evaluated by freezing a field sample. Nitrite oxidation by dissolved oxygen in the freezing process is much faster than by other oxidation processes, such as reactions with ozone, hydrogen peroxide or dissolved oxygen in an aqueous solution at pHs 3 to –6. At pH 4.5 and 25°C, the lifetime of nitrite in the aqueous phase is ca. 1 hr in oxidation by ozone (6×10^-10 mol dm^-3), ca. 10 hr in oxidation by H₂O₂ (2×10^-4 mol dm^-3), and 7.5 hr (Fischer and Warneck, 1996) in photodissociation at midday in summer. Under the same conditions at a temperature below 0°C, the lifetime of nitrite in the freezing process is estimated as ca. 2 sec when the droplets are frozen within a second. The reaction by freezing is affected by the presence of salts, such as NaCl or KCl, or orgnaic compounds, such as methanol or acetone. The results of freezing a field rain or fog sample showed that nitrite oxidation proceeds below pH 6, and the conversion ratio of nitrate from nitrite increases with decreasing pH. The oxidation of nitrite by freezing was also observed in freezing fog particles generated by an ultrasonic humidifier. The ratios of the concentrations of ions in the winter sample to those in the summer sample (or those in the fog sample) were almost the same values. However, the concentration of nitrite in the winter sample was lower than that estimated by the ratios of other ions. From the present study, it seems that the freezing process plays an important role in the nitrite sink process in the tropospheric aqueous phase.     

Coastal aquifer system in late Pleistocene to Holocene deposits at Horonobe in Hokkaido,Japan

The groundwater flow systems and chemistry in the deep part of the coastal area of Japan have attracted attention over recent decades due to government projects such as geological disposal of radioactive waste. However, the continuous groundwater flow system moving from the shallow to deep parts of the sedimentary soft rock has not yet been characterized. Therefore, the Cl^–, δD and δ¹⁸O values of the pore water in the Horonobe coastal area in Hokkaido, Japan, were measured to 1,000 m below the ground surface, and a vertical profile of the pore-water chemistry was constructed to assist in elucidating groundwater circulation patterns in the coastal area. The results show that the groundwater flow regime may be divided into five categories based on groundwater age and origin: (1) fresh groundwater recharged by modern rainwater, (2) fresh groundwater recharged by paleo rainwater during the last glacial age, (3) low-salinity groundwater recharged during the last interglacial period, (4) mixed water in a diffusion zone, and (5) connate water consisting of paleo seawater. These results suggest that the appearance of hydrological units is not controlled by the boundaries of geological formations and that paleo seawater is stored in younger Quaternary sediments.     

Thermobaric structure of the Kokchetav ultrahigh-pressure–high-pressure massif deduced from a north–south transect in the Kulet and Saldat–Kol regions, northern Kazakhstan

Abstract To investigate the regional thermobaric structure of the diamondiferous Kokchetav ultrahigh‐pressure and high‐pressure (UHP–HP) massif and adjacent units, eclogite and other metabasites in the Kulet and Saldat–Kol regions, northern Kazakhstan, were examined. The UHP–HP massif is subdivided into four units, bounded by subhorizontal faults. Unit I is situated at the lowest level of the massif and consists of garnet–amphibolite and acidic gneiss with minor pelitic schist and orthogneiss. Unit II, which structurally overlies Unit I, is composed mainly of pelitic schist and gneiss, and whiteschist locally with abundant eclogite blocks. The primary minerals observed in Kulet and Saldat–Kol eclogites are omphacite, sodic augite, garnet, quartz, rutile and minor barroisite, hornblende, zoisite, clinozoisite and phengite. Rare kyanite occurs as inclusions in garnet. Coesite inclusions occur in garnet porphyroblasts in whiteschist from Kulet, which are closely associated with eclogite masses. Unit III consists of alternating orthogneiss and amphibolite with local eclogite masses. The structurally highest unit, Unit IV, is composed of quartzitic schist with minor pelitic, calcareous, and basic schist intercalations. Mineral assemblages and compositions, and occurrences of polymorphs of SiO₂ (quartz or coesite) in metabasites and associated rocks in the Kulet and Saldat–Kol regions indicate that the metamorphic grades correspond to epidote–amphibolite, through high‐pressure amphibolite and quartz–eclogite, to coesite–eclogite facies conditions. Based on estimations by several geothermobarometers, eclogite from Unit II yielded the highest peak pressure and temperature conditions in the UHP–HP massif, with metamorphic pressure and temperature decreasing towards the upper and lower structural units. The observed thermobaric structure is subhorizontal. The UHP–HP massif is overlain by a weakly metamorphosed unit to the north and is underlain by the low‐pressure Daulet Suite to the south; boundaries are subhorizontal faults. There is a distinct pressure gap across these boundaries. These suggest that the highest grade unit, Unit II, has been selectively extruded from the greatest depths within the UHP–HP unit during the exhumation process, and that all of the UHP–HP unit has been tectonically intruded and juxtaposed into the adjacent lower grade units at shallower depths of about 10 km.     

Interannual and synoptic-scale features of two types of cold-air outbreaks over the East China Sea during 1988�C2006

For the 1988?C2006 cold seasons, we investigated the characteristic structures of two types of cold-air outbreaks over the East China Sea: Type N, for which a thick layer of northerly meridional wind was formed during the cold-air outbreak; and Type S, for which an initially thin layer of northerly meridional wind was gradually thickened as the cold-air outbreak developed. The emergence frequencies of Type N and Type S outbreaks are sensitive to winter monsoon intensity at the 500-hectopascal (hPa) level. Type S outbreaks are dominant during strong El Ni?o events, leading to enhanced southerly meridional flow at 500?hPa over the East China Sea. The development of the 500-hPa Pacific High strongly influences the synoptic-scale structures of the two different types of outbreaks over the East China Sea.     

Traveling wave effects on a tall and narrow building: Observation and analysis

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the seismic response of a tall and narrow building, for example, a turbine building of thermal power plant, due to a traveling shear wave. It is considered that the dynamic response of the building can be affected by the spatial variance of seismic ground motion, because the building has a long-shaped foundation (43 meters wide by 343 meters long by 4 meters thick). First, analytical study was conducted using obliquely incident harmonic motion. And comparing the earthquake response observed at different points of foundation slab, it was found that the response at the end point where input wave reaches later is larger than that at the other end. From these studies, it was assured that the antisymmetric mode, which can be neglected in ordinary analysis, is excited by phase difference of input motion.